Archive for August, 2017

It appears that the Guillermo del Toro-led remake of 1966’s sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage is getting pushed back about a year, to allow time for del Toro to deal with the release of The Shape of Water, which is coming out December 8th in time for Oscar season.

Deadline reports that Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment are willing to push full development of the film until next Spring, to allow del Toro to be able to fully concentrate on the development before they start spending money on set production, etc. Given the original timeline was to start dull production in the Spring for a late 2019 release, but this would probably push filming until the Fall, and a release sometime in 2020.

SYFY announced their upcoming fall and winter schedule, including the premiere of their new original series starring Christopher Meloni, HAPPY! on November 29 at 10/9c. The series, based on New York Times best-selling author Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name, also features Patton Oswalt as the voice of the imaginary blue winged horse named “Happy.” HAPPY! is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

SCRIPTED ORIGINALS (in order of air date)

CHANNEL ZERO: NO-END HOUSE – Second Installment Premieres Wednesday, September 20 at 10/9c

Inspired by Brian Russell’s “creepypasta” tale, CHANNEL ZERO: NO-END HOUSE tells the story of a young woman named Margot Sleator, played by Amy Forsyth (“The Path”), and her best friend Jules (Aisha Dee “The Bold Type”), who visit the No-End House, a bizarre house of horrors that consists of a series of increasingly disturbing rooms. When Margot returns home, she realizes everything has changed. The second six-hour installment will be directed by Steven Piet (“Uncle John”). Franchise creator Nick Antosca (“Hannibal,” “Teen Wolf”) will return as executive producer and showrunner; Max Landis (“Chronicle,” “American Ultra”) will also executive produce.

HAPPY! – Series Premiere Wednesday, November 29 at 10/9c

Universal Cable Productions’ HAPPY! is based on New York Times best-selling author Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name. The series follows Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni, “Law & Order: SVU”) – an intoxicated, corrupt ex-cop turned hit man – who is adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex and betrayal. After a hit gone wrong, his inebriated life is forever changed by a tiny, relentlessly positive, imaginary blue winged horse named “Happy” (Patton Oswalt). Executive producers Morrison (“Batman,” “The Invisibles”) and Brian Taylor (“Crank,” “Gamer”) co-wrote the pilot teleplay. Neal Moritz, Pavun Shetty and Toby Jaffe of Original Film (“The Fast and the Furious” franchise), Meloni and showrunner Patrick Macmanus will also executive produce. Taylor directed the pilot.

CO-PRODUCTIONS/ ACQUISITIONS (in order of air date)

CON MAN – Television Debut of Web Series Airs Saturday, September 9 at 10/9c

The short form web series, which debuted on Vimeo and Comic-Con HQ, will have its television debut with a Season 1 marathon on Saturday, September 9th beginning at 10/9c showing all 13 episodes back-to-back. The critically acclaimed, geektastic series, which recently received two Emmy® nominations for Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, follows the journey of Wray Nerely (Alan Tudyk), a washed-up, former sci-fi celebrity who revisits his glory days on the convention circuit. The series is executive produced by Tudyk, PJ Haarsma and Nathan Fillion, who also co-stars. The star-studded first season also features Seth Green, Felicia Day, Sean Astin, James Gunn, Tricia Helfer and many more.

Z NATION – Season 4 Premieres Friday, September 29 at 9/8c

Z NATION follows a team of everyday heroes, led by Lieutenant Warren (Kellita Smith), during their epic struggle to save humanity. Season 4 begins with a mind-bending jump in time. Murphy and Warren find themselves alive in Zona, the zombie free playground for billionaires. Meanwhile, the rest of our heroes are fighting alongside the last of the humans against the mutated Zombie Virus and the unkillable “MAD-Z’s.” Warren’s mysterious dream of a black rainbow and flesh-eating black rain propels the season forward and puts our heroes in the middle of an even worse Zompocalypse. Here they will have to battle Jugalo Zombies and find the Zombified President of the United States – or at least his thumb. Produced by The Asylum, Z NATION stars Kellita Smith, Keith Allan, DJ Qualls, Anastasia Baranova, Russell Hodgkinson, Nat Zang, Joseph Gatt, Emilio Rivera and Matt Cedeño.

VAN HELSING – Season 2 Premieres Thursday, October 5 at 9/8c

VAN HELSING stars Kelly Overton (“True Blood”) as Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendent of the Van Helsing lineage who must lead mankind against a world controlled by vampires in the post-Rising apocalypse. In Season 2, Vanessa and the other survivors discover old alliances have crumbled, and new connections expose long-buried secrets about The Rising, the Van Helsing heritage and the survival of humankind itself.

GHOST WARS – Series Premiere Thursday, October 5 at 10/9c

Created by Simon Barry, the horror series GHOST WARS is set in a remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces. Local outcast Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia, “Tut,” “Victorious”) must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons to harness his repressed psychic powers in order to save everyone from the mass haunting threatening to destroy them all. GHOST WARS is produced by Nomadic Pictures. Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev (“Fargo,” “Van Helsing,” “Hell On Wheels”), Simon Barry (“Continuum”), Dennis Heaton (“Motive”) and David Von Ancken (“Code Black”) serve as executive producers. The series also stars Vincent D’Onofrio (“The Judge,” “Daredevil”), Kim Coates (“Sons of Anarchy”), Kandyse McClure (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, “Hemlock Grove”), Kristin Lehman (“Motive”) and Meatloaf (“Fight Club”).

SUPERSTITION – Series Premiere Friday, October 6 at 10/9c

The series centers on the Hastings family, owners of the only funeral home in the mysterious town of La Rochelle, Georgia. The family also acts as the keepers of the town’s dark secrets and history. Known for its haunted houses, elevated graveyards, odd townsfolk and rich history of unusual phenomena, the town is also a “landing patch” for the world’s darkest manifestations of fear, guided into the world by an ancient, mysterious malefactor. XLrator Media’s Barry Gordon and MVPTV’s Mario Van Peebles (“Roots,” “Bloodline,” “Hand of God,” “Empire,” “Lost”) will produce, and Van Peebles will also write, direct and star in some of the episodes. Joel Anderson Thompson (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, “Boomtown,” “House M.D.”) has been tapped as showrunner, and Laurence Andries (“Alias,” “Six Feet Under,” “Supernatural,” “The Pacific”) will executive produce.

ALTERNATIVE (in order of air date)

GAME FACE – Airing Tuesdays at 9/8c

SYFY’s all-new FACE OFF spinoff series, GAME FACE premiered on Tuesday, August 22 and will air Tuesdays at 9/8c. The seven-episode series is based on SYFY’s award-winning FACE OFF with an electrifying new twist. GAME FACE will feature former FACE OFF all-stars as they go head-to-head each week, with multiple make-up reveals and eliminations throughout each exciting episode. Every week, four artists will race against the clock to complete three challenges, with eliminations after every round, but only one artist will walk away with the $10,000 prize. McKenzie Westmore, a member of a multi-generational family dynasty whose name is synonymous with the make-up effects field, will host alongside the renowned judges, multiple Academy Award winner Ve Neill (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Hunger Games”) and Academy Award® winner Rick Baker (“Star Wars,” “The Exorcist”). GAME FACE will also feature a panel of rotating guest judges which includes Emmy Award winner Eryn Krueger Mekash (“The People V. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story,” “American Horror Story”), industry veteran Glenn Hetrick (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Spider-Man 3”) and creature designer Neville Page (“Avatar,” “Prometheus”). GAME FACE is a production of Mission Control Media with Dwight D. Smith, Michael Agbabian and Ian Mallahan serving as executive producers.

Thomas Meehan, who wrote many various Broadway productions and book adaptations, passed away on Monday at the age of 88.

Meehan was best known as the writer of the musical Annie with songwriter Charles Strouse, was also a collaborator with Mel Brooks and helped to bring the latter’s 1967 movie The Producers to Broadway. He also worked on the book for Hairspray, making him the only person to have written three productions that each ran for more than 2,000 performances.

Another collaboration with Brooks resulted in the screenplay for Spaceballs, the standard for science fiction spoofs. He won three Tony Awards for Best Book from a Musical.

Netflix released a teaser entitled “Demolition” for the next Marvel series to release on the streaming platform, Marvel’s The Punisher. Netflix is still coy on when exactly it will be released, only mentioning “2017” with the rest obscured…

The Galaxy Quest series based on the 1999 movie has been in development for a while at Paramount, with Amazon signing on for distribution, but plans took a hit when Alan Rickman, who played Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in the movie, passed away in January of 2016.

Now it seems things are picking up again, with the series still set for Amazon, with The League star and occasional writer Paul Scheer working on a script based on a new take for the series. No word on whether this version will feature any of the original cast. Mark Johnson is still attached as a producer.

We have to report the sad news that a stuntwoman working on the set of Deadpool 2 unfortunately was killed during a motorcycle stunt this morning on location in Vancouver near near Jack Poole Plaza. The cause is under investigation.

According to witnesses, the stunt had been rehearsed a couple times, but on the last attempt the motorcycle appeared to accelerate instead of slowing down at the end of some ramps and went out of view, but she apparently jumped a curb and crashed into the plate glass windows of the Shaw Tower. Emergency responders arrived quickly and treated the woman but she died at the scene.

Ryan Reynolds tweeted, “Today, we tragically lost a member of our crew while filming Deadpool. We’re heartbroken, shocked and devastated… but recognize nothing can come close to the grief and inexplicable pain her family and loved ones must feel in this moment. My heart pours out to them — along with each and every person she touched in this world.”

Additionally, all of the special features, including an all-new bonus scene, interviews with filmmakers, featurettes, and extended scenes, can be experienced in an entirely new, dynamic and immersive manner on tablets and mobile phones using the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App, available for both iOS and Android devices. When purchased digitally and redeemed on UltraViolet, the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App allows users to watch the movie and simultaneously experience synchronized content related to any scene, simply by rotating their device. Synchronized content is presented on the same screen while the movie is playing, thus enabling users to quickly learn more about any scene, such as actor biographies, scene locations, fun trivia, or image galleries. Also, users can share movie clips with friends on social media and experience other immersive content. The Movies All Access app is available for download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

NBC has been trying to bring back the classic sitcom The Munsters, and it looks like they are taking a swing at it again. Deadline reports that the network is on board for the development of the series led by Jill Kargman and Seth Meyers, from a concept from Odd Mom Out‘s Kargman. Kargman will write the script and executive produce with Meyers Mike Shoemaker for Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions and Universal TV.

NBC wanted to reboot the show, which follows the life of a monster family trying to fit into normal society, back in 2012, but opted to try a one-hour format to allow for more of a drama setting. That appeared to be a mistake, with only the pilot being produced and ultimately being shown as a Halloween special with moderate ratings. It did however feature Eddie Izzard as Grandpa, which I thought was an intriguing choice. After it aired, NBC head Bob Greenblat said, “I won’t say we won’t do another version of The Munsters again,” and apparently he meant it…but this time, it’s a sitcom.

An interesting twist is the family will be relocated from a fictional suburb of Los Angeles to “hipster Brooklyn”. No word if the address of 1313 Mockingbird Lane will remain…